Arms Control

... through negotiation we can move toward the control of
armaments in a manner that will bring a greater measure of
security than we can obtain from arms alone.

The President's Message to the
Congress, transmitting the Ninth
Report of the U.S. Arms Control
and Disarmament Agency,
February 26, 1970

The world has no more urgent interest than reducing the danger
of war. and above all, nuclear war. This creates responsibilities
for all nations, but particularly for the nuclear superpowers.

The control of armaments is not a new issue in this decade or
the postwar period. Man has long sought to create the mutual
trust and techniques to limit and reduce arms. The historical
record has been tragic. Arms control has generally foundered
because it failed the test of international crises-nations
could not resolve the very issues that stimulated weapons competition.
At the same time, political settlements were threatened by
arms rivalry-nations could not define levels that did
not stimulate ever-new competition and thus new antagonisms
and insecurity.